our worlds may crumble, but we won't
by passmethesalt
Summary: Austin Moon is the typical popular boy at school, like in every story. But he stops believing in love ever since he's got a broken family, and well, life's a mess. That is until he meets Ally Dawson, who let him see the beauty of the world and make him taste the bittersweet feeling of love, whether he likes it or not. (Was LovelyBirdy)
1. Chapter 1

_"So, I love you because the entire universe conspired to help me find you." - Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist._

* * *

All Austin wanted to do was drown in a black hole of sorrow and disappear. But he couldn't, for many reasons, but mostly because, well, it didn't exist.

He wished it did though, it sounded a lot better than his life.

And Austin knew well enough how selfish that was, he had everything anyone could have ever wanted; great voice, awesomely good looks (which he didn't actually mind) and unbelievably rich parents. But who needed all those things when in reality; his world was breaking into pieces.

That was how the incredible mishaps of his life got him to become the most popular boy at school. And he didn't even need some guidance or instructions, it just happened because the universe wanted it to.

/

A cough was heard at the back along with clearings of throat. "Are you done?"

Austin saw his best friend, Dez, impatiently waiting for him with a disgusted look on his face and he took that as a cue to probably take his lips of the girl he was making out with, until rudely interrupted. "Oh, sorry Dez."

The girl gave a wink that caused Dez's lunch to almost go back up. "Who was that?"

"I have no idea."

"Maybe next time you should find a less _public_ spot for your make out session, I almost had to puke out my peanut butter burrito!" Dez said as he stuck his tongue out in disgust.

"Peanut bu- never mind."

Okay, so his best friend wasn't the sharpest crayon in the box, although, he was the most attention-seeking one, with his clown pants and everything. But Dez was someone that could help Austin laugh, and he needed comedy once in a while.

"Hey buddy," Dez broke Austin's train of thoughts, "want to come over to my house and watch some Zalien movies? Then feed my pet frog?"

Austin could only laugh. "No thanks. I have to get home soon. My mum will freak out if I don't do the chores."

"Austin Moon, the popular boy, still has chores?" Dez gasped.

"Shut up, Dez."

/

_There's no place like home._

Well, he sure hoped so! Home was always so upsetting. Austin tried to spend as little time as possible at home, but he couldn't stand looking at his mother facing it alone. After all, she needed as much help and support.

He heard his mum entering the house as he was washing the dishes (being popular didn't give him the pass to skip chores).

"Hey." His mum greeted him with a small smile.

"How was it?" Austin didn't want to cut to the chase but he really couldn't help it.

She took a deep breath. "Good, in a few days we will be 'officially' divorced."

There was a short, temporary silence before he finished his dishes. He embraced her with a sympathetic hug. "I am sorry, mum." Austin could feel her weakened in the hug, "I know you didn't plan for all this."

She rubbed his back warmly. "Don't worry sweetie. I'll be fine. _We_ will be fine." Austin wanted her to be okay and he didn't want his father's stupid mistakes to crumble her down.

He was about to go upstairs when she gave a voice. " Before the official divorce, he wants to have a family dinner, just the three of us."

Austin scoffed. " Yeah, not happening." And he turned to face his mother again, "also, ask him, _what family_?"

/

Okay, so maybe home wasn't the only bad place in the world. His math class could win second place.

Mr. Jefferson was babbling something about _Trigonometry _that Austin could not even give time to care. To him, it was a big trigoNOmetry. He thought he fell asleep during that class, and he didn't mind.

The last bell of the day finally rang for what seemed like eternity and he was rushing to meet Dez when he painfully crashed into someone.

Papers and books flew everywhere around the school hall. And Austin was too dizzy to notice who he had crashed into. After finally regaining his senses, he realized it was a girl, who had fallen onto the ground.

_Was this a curse from Mr. Jefferson for not listening to trigonometry?_ He thought.

"I am sorry! Are you okay?" He asked her, bending down to her level on the ground.

"Oh, that's fine. I am fine." She laughed it off, making Austin feel slightly better.

"Do you need help?"

After five seconds of unanswered question, he began to notice. She was struggling to get her books that were on the floor but they were right in front of her. Austin helped getting the papers that flew a while ago and they had been unfortunately stepped on by soulless students (as he liked to put it) and he felt bad. That was, perhaps, the first time he had ever felt bad for anyone else but himself.

"Here are your papers. Sorry again." He bent down again, realizing that the girl hadn't taken a step to get back up. Austin was starting to get confused, as she still hadn't looked at him. (Not that he wanted her to look at him, but most of the girls at school would have probably look at him excessively if they were in this position).

"Oh yes, thank you very much." She stated as she sloppily took the said papers of his hand, and the touches she left on his hand did not go unnoticed. _What is she doing?_ His confusion was taking over him.

He furrowed his eyebrows, "your books are right here…" he told her, taking her hands that were moving unsteadily on the floor, looking for her books. After she grabbed her books, she stood up and thank Austin for the second time.

Austin finally saw her face. He had never seen her around, but she was pretty enough; a face that would've satisfied him fine. With her brown hair that she put on a pony tail and big brown eyes that matched his, except, slightly darker.

"I hope you didn't get hurt…"

She had trouble directing her gaze and she was trying to find where his voice was coming from and Austin was baffled.

"Ally."

"Right, I am Austin." To him, she looked so polite that he magically put his hand out for a shake, but she didn't take it, almost like she didn't even notice. He felt rather embarrassed by that gesture.

"I am fine, Austin and thank you for helping me. It was nice of you. I would have stayed there all day trying to find my papers and books if it weren't because of you!"

She was embracing him with a polite smile but she wasn't looking at him as her eyes stayed still and immune to the sunlight that travelled through the glass door onto her face.

He was lost, he didn't understand what her words meant or what was happening. All this thinking and Ally made him forget about Dez that was probably waiting outside, waiting for Austin to show his baby frog, or something.

"Yeah, you're welcome." He wasn't even acting nice anymore; all he could feel was confusion.

Confused as to why she had never bothered to look him in the eye for the past time, everywhere but his eyes, even though she was trying to smile, she didn't direct that smile at him, it was on the wrong direction. And she had that blank expression in her eyes, glancing absently past him.

And for the first time, he wanted to cry for someone else.

* * *

_thanks for reading! im sorry if it was slightly confusing but it'll make sense in the upcoming chapters and also i wrote this in a slight rush ;_; *guilty* _


	2. Chapter 2

"_Those who do not know how to see the precious things in life will never be happy." – Alex Flinn, Beastly._

* * *

Dez had told Austin almost every frog stories of his pet. Austin gagged but still laughed at his best friend's craze over frogs.

At least that took his mind off of the potential dinner he had to have with his dad. He did not want anything to do with him, not after what he had done to his own family. Being a loving family seemed so distant ago, he forgot what it felt like. His father promised him so many things, but now they felt like long, lost, forgotten promises.

And yet he still wanted to spend sometime with Austin? Breathing in the same awkward, uncomfortable air as him? Trying to start small talks: 'hey son! How's school?' 'The weather's been cool' 'How are you Mimi?'

It wasn't like he really cared about his school, let alone the weather (he was the office type) and he certainly didn't give a crap about his mother.

"Hey!" Dez snapped him out of his deep thoughts.

"Sorry."

Dez noticed Austin hadn't been listening to his frog stories, but he noticed he hadn't been listening to anything much he had been saying. "Are you okay? You seem so out of it lately."

Austin rubbed circles on his temple. "Yeah, yeah, just tired. You know, Mr. Jefferson is really giving me a hard time."

Of course, Dez didn't buy it, but Austin would never tell what was really going on in his dark mind. So he decided just to go along with it. "That old chap."

/

Austin rejected the offer to ride shotgun in Dez's new car. He wanted to, but he really couldn't stand the talk of frogs anymore, especially since he just had to dissect a frog earlier in biology.

The school grounds were starting to get deserted and Austin felt a sudden air of relief. He really could use some alone time. Somewhere that didn't remind him of home.

But of course, the school ground could never be empty. It would always be filled with lonesome kids.

He noticed her sitting on a wooden bench, sitting so thoughtfully; it almost made Austin think it was cute. But it really was.

"Hey Ally!" He greeted her with such enthusiasm, it sounded almost fake. "I am not going to hurt you this time."

She laughed at his attempt to befriend her and tapped the empty space next to her.

"Hi Austin. Shouldn't you be going home?" She questioned, still looking towards the damp earth.

"I should ask you the same."

"I am waiting for my ride."

The wind was going strong, blowing the leaves on the school ground and left the trees dancing along, and some leaves dropped on Ally's hair. "You got some leaves- wait let me- there." He couldn't help but feel the silkiness of her hair.

Austin never really taken notice, but with the light shining on her face, it made her seem radiant. Plus the warm smile she kept on her lips gave him comfort. And he hadn't felt that for a really long time.

But something really bugged him and it was really starting to get to his nerves.

"Hey, I am right here, where are you looking at?" He waved his big palms in front of her face and she turned her attention to where his voice came from.

Her laughed turned slightly nervous and her smile started to fade. "I thought you knew I was blind."

That took him almost a full two-minute of coming back from his numb senses and for his brain to translate all her words into something he could fathom.

"I am sorry." He got up from his chair, wanting to go, in shame.

"Don't go."

Right then would be a good time that he drowns in that black hole of sorrow. And shame. And embarrassment.

"I am sorry I said that…I didn't really think that you were- bli -visually impaired." He stuttered, and for a second, he was glad she couldn't see how stupid he must've looked.

"That's fine. I am used to it. You can say blind." Ally smiled, and all the guilt floats away.

The wind blew her hair to her face and Austin couldn't fight the urge to stop himself from doing what he did. He tucked her hair to the back of her ear. She blushed a –cute- shade of pink.

Even with the silence, he felt comfortable and he didn't want to get up from the bench until he remembered about the dinner he had to go (reluctantly). And let out a sigh too loud.

"Everything okay?" Ally asked.

"What?" Snapping out of his daze.

"You sounded upset. You shouldn't have a long face, it doesn't look very attractive."

He giggled at what she said. "How do you know if I am attractive?" He had a smirk up his face but realized she couldn't see the conceited look on his face and felt rather stupid.

For acquaintances, Austin was sitting too close to Ally and he knew well that she could smell his fragrance. "I don't. When you're blind, you can only judge people from what you hear, not from what you see. So it's from the heart."

He was too stunned to even speak so she continued. "And from what I have heard from you, you are genuinely a nice person. Don't let me change my mind about that." She nudged him in the shoulder playfully. " Sometimes, I like being blind, because you get to know someone from the inside."

Austin felt ashamed. He had never thought of it that way.

"But I have heard people talking about you, Austin. And they say you were-as people say it these days - 'hot'".

He heard her giggle so he chuckled as well. "Well, you should totally believe them." And they laughed harder, enjoying each other's company, forgetting how they were just acquaintances moments ago, barely friends.

And then she told him all the things she heard about him that caused his ego to increase slightly. Like, how good of a kisser he was (she heard that a lot) and how good he smelt and how toned his body was. And each time she said those things, he would receive a snicker and he could only grin on how much he liked hearing her laugh.

It felt like a really long time ago, that he went home with a smile plastered on his face.

* * *

_thank you for reading! i just want to let you know that in this story there wont be any bad guys (except maybe his dad but that's what austin thinks haha) but the complications in this story are due to their own feelings, so it will be a little lighter without the dramas and bad guys but also has a lot of thinking from how they, (mostly Austin) feels from the inside. _

_favourites, follows and reviews are highly appreciated! thank you ^_^_


	3. Chapter 3

"'_So-whatever happened to you?'_

'_Life. Life happened.'"- David Nicholls, One Day._

* * *

Perhaps it wasn't a good idea to bring a smile home.

"Thank _God_ for that smile, Austin. Keep it up for the dinner, will you?" His mother looked sincerely delighted to see the sight of her son smiling.

"What?" His smile died down quickly.

She raised her eyebrows at him. "The dinner, your father will be here soon."

Austin sighed in defeat. "Should I drown myself in the pool or eat a plate full of broccoli? Both sound much better than that dinner!" he stated with full sarcasm.

"Do it for me, will you? I can't do it without you."

His anger turned into sympathy within a brief term.

/

"Hey son! How's school!"

Bingo.

"Better than being here, that's for sure." He was trying his best to control his anger; he didn't want to disappoint his mum anymore.

Mr. Moon laughed- almost bitterly, "you sure are still as funny as ever." He said as he patted his son's back. Austin was fighting with his inner self, not to do anything harmful.

On the dining table, his mother had set everything so beautifully. Very colour-coordinated, and each utensils were perfectly placed. Austin wondered why she even tried to make this dinner worth it when he would rather be elsewhere.

There was a pot full of spaghetti, a jug of water and...pancakes and his hunger relatively made him forget about his hatred towards his own father.

The air around them on the dinner table was so suffocating with awkwardness that Austin was about to die. He had never heared silence so loud before. They would casually made small talks but after a while, it became too uncomfortable to even speak.

"How's life, son?"

He scoffed, "I am laughing at the fact that you pretend to care." He suddenly lost his appetite.

"I do care, Austin."

His mum looked at him with pleading eyes, to stop Austin from causing any unwanted acts. But his anger was boiling in a pot of flame in his stomach.

He dropped his eating utensils on his plate, a little too loud for his mum's liking. "Of course you do. That's why you walked in on us. Because you care." He spoke with fake kindness.

"You don't-"

"No dad, I do understand. I am seventeen! I know a cheating man when I see one." His dad's eyes grew large. "Oh, and did you forget about your family you gave promises to? Did you forget about your own son? I needed a father. I needed a figure to set me examples. But I guess all I will be able to do is cheat. Right dad?"

Mr. Moon slammed the table with his fist.

Austin looked over at his mum to see tears running down her face and he couldn't feel guiltier. "Please stop. Please! Just stop! Please…" She was sobbing then, and ran away from the dinner table she had worked so hard on.

The flame in his heart burnt himself, Austin could feel himself evaporating in sadness and defeat.

"Austin-"

"Will you just go? You messed this family enough times already."

/

Dez sighed, it would be his nth time seeing his best friend locking lips with some random girl he caught in the hallways.

"Do I always have to find you like this?"

Austin smiled cheekily. "Hey, you're interrupting my time with Austin!" the girl said for a minute before cupping Austin's jaw and Dez stuck his tongue out.

"Yeah, that's enough. Okay, bye!" Austin pushed her out of his view and focused on his best friend. He suddenly missed him, as he knew they hadn't been spending much time together.

Dez shook his head. "Wow, Austin. You could have done much better than her!"

Austin leaned his back on his locker and crossed his arms. "Like you know anything about women, besides, I was just waiting for you."

"Could you do something else while waiting for me next time?" He joked.

Dez might not be the smartest best friend, but he knew exactly when Austin was stressed out about something. "You okay, man?"

He looked to the ground and tried to find a bunch of lies to tell his best friend, so that he would not pry. But at the end of it, he grew tired of always lying.

"My dad. He came over yesterday. You should just know the rest of the story did not go well." He finally spoken and ran a hand to his shiny bleached, blond hair.

Dez nodded in understanding. "Oh, I am sorry."

"Hey, watch where you going!" A voice roared out with a loud bump that caused almost everyone in the hall to look at the source of noise, including Austin and Dez.

_The hall is just so full of events. _Austin thought.

Until the event had Ally in it.

Austin ran over to Ally who was on the ground and helped her up, which left murmurs going around the hall. "Maybe _you_ should watch where you were going, douche bag!" He shouted to the boy who had made Ally come in contact with the ground, the second time this week. Austin felt triumphant, as the boy ran in loss.

"Are you okay?" He checked her skin for any sign of bruises. Realizing that he was technically checking her out, he had twenty different shades of red in his face and Dez snickered.

"Yeah, I am okay. Thank Austin, but really, you shouldn't have said those things, he really doesn't know that I can't see." Ally responded which received Dez to have trouble understanding.

"You can't see? Why? Is the hallway too dark?" He glanced around the place and Austin nudged him right in the chest. "Ow!"

Austin thought Ally might be upset about what Dez had uttered, but instead she laughed. "No, it's not too dark."

He whispered to Dez, "she's blind, frog boy."

Dez bit his lip in shame, "I apologize!" his apology was sort of out of hand, with him kneeling up and down to Ally, and the students around were sending him looks.

"That's fine, Austin's friend."

"Dez."

She smiled at his name. "That's so unique! Is it short for something?"

Huh, Austin never wondered about that, and Dez never mentioned anything about it, either.

"I have _no _idea!" With that, Dez gave him a thumbs up and pat Ally to signal that he was leaving the two.

Austin had been silent for a little while so she was trying to grab hold of where he was and accidentally touched his chest. Right in the spot, it grew really hot inside him and sent chills around his body. He gulped all his anxiety. "Ah, there you are." She said nonchalantly, "I better get to class, thanks again."

When he finally found his voice and the energy to speak, he grabbed her wrist. "Let me take you to class."

She shook her head in protest, "No, you would be late for class, I can find my way there by myself with no problem." Ally took her wrist off Austin's grip and he finally grasped that he had been holding it for too long.

It wasn't that he cared about being late, but Ally was making him feel all these perceptions and when he was finally awake from the thoughts, he couldn't even catch up to her as she was lost amongst numerous of students.

* * *

_Thanks for reading! and i appreciate all the reviews, favourites and follows i've gotten in the previous chapters, and even if you didn't review or anything, i still appreciate all the views i've received. thank you :) _

_I am sorry if this chapter wasn't the best. _


	4. Chapter 4

"_The aim of every human being is to understand the meaning of total love." – Paulo Coelho, Eleven Minutes._

* * *

Autumn swept over quickly. The sight of falling orange leaves was changed to leafless trees, just lonely branches waiting for some company over the cold. Austin was so used to Miami's heat, the coldness of Miami's winter was unfriendly to him.

His fingers turned numb as he strutted along the sidewalk, people who had winter much worse than him would mock him, but the chilly breeze blew on him making his heart bitter every minute. Different people passed by him with different coloured coats, push past him unwantedly, wanting to feel the warmth of their home.

Austin didn't understand those people. How warm and welcoming were their homes, really? Would their families greet them with kisses and hot coffees? Would they watch TV together as a family? The thoughts seemed so foreign in his mind. Every time he goes home, he was always greeted with the sight of his mother crying, and everyday, he watched his heart break from small pieces to big ones.

She told him not to worry, but of course he did.

He was so lost in his tangled thoughts he forgot how the evening turned so stinging. He blew hot breaths on his hands for warmth and looked at the coffee shop he saw by the end of the street. Austin was about to enter the oh-so-warm-looking café when a voice was heard from his opposite direction.

"Excuse me, do you mind helping me cross the street?"

Anyone would expect an old lady to ask for such thing, and she was the last person he had thought he would see around a random street. His lips curved into a smile and it felt so alien because he hadn't done that for a while. He decided to please himself.

"I would, young lady, but I need to drink some coffee first, or I might freeze to death."

Ally laughed to her best effort to look right where he was, but he knew he had appreciated just that. "Okay, _Austin_, I'll wait."

"You think I'm going to let you stay outside? No, you're coming with me." He took her cold hand and guided her to the coffee shop.

As Austin and Ally opened the door, the ringing of bells welcomed them, signaling the café that a customer – or two in this case – had arrived. The shop was cozy, with the strong smell of coffee beans and wood. Austin sat Ally on the counter as he sat himself beside her.

The barista had poured their cups with black coffees as complementary and Ally warmed her numb fingers on the curves of the white cup. Austin sipped his cup and cringed at the bitterness.

_No wonder they gave it out for free, it's horrible. _

He took two spoonful of sugar when Ally started to break the silence.

"I don't like black coffees." She pushed aside her unwanted cup of coffee a little further from her.

"Neither do I." And their laughs filled the emptiness of the shop.

Drizzles started to drip from the sky and they both stayed silent listening to the sound of rain.

Austin glanced at Ally, who sat with her short legs dangling down from the chair. She wore a cute cat sweater and a loose skirt that reached her knee, her hair was not in her usual ponytail but was more relaxed as she let her hair down, and it reminded him of chocolate. And he looked at her sleek fingers and hand on the counter, it looked so soft and all he wanted was to –

"I guess we're stuck here for a while, huh?" Ally said, breaking any thoughts Austin had of her. He was flushed red that the previous barista tried hard not to laugh at him.

"Huh? Y-yeah."

"You know, I really like you Austin. You're always so nice trying to help me when no one else want to."

He didn't know if he could get redder than he already was, but if he could he would. Why was he even feeling all these weird sensations? It was probably from the bitter coffee. "You're w-wel-welcome."

The coffee in his cup slowly turned cold as the rain grew heavier, he didn't know how much longer he was going to stay with Ally but it didn't mean he minded.

He looked at her and saw that here he was, with this beautiful girl who he had known nothing about, and yet he was so loss at words.

"How long have you been, you know, visually…impaired?" Austin tried to choose his words carefully; he didn't want her to feel offended.

Ally took a while to answer, and Austin suddenly felt ashamed of asking such question, he knew he had no right to pry. Besides, she might feel embarrassed or maybe angry that he asked that. "Since I was born."

He gulped in guilt and drank his cold coffee.

"But I know that I was blind for a reason. It wasn't a curse; I accept it as a gift. I have something that other people don't. I can do things other people can't. I can hear and _feel._ Whether others can only see, but not know what's behind what they saw."

Austin involuntarily played with her sleek fingers and he was surprised she didn't sweep his hand away. "I'm sorry I asked, I didn't mean to-"

"It's fine, I'm glad you asked, actually. It's rare to find someone who bothers to ask." It was Ally's turn to put her hand above his, and held it firmly.

Her hand was soft, as he had predicted, and he glimpsed at Ally, who was smiling and somewhere, deep down his heart, he was hoping it was because of him. But he quickly brushed that theory off.

"If you were able to see, what would you want to see the most?" Austin questioned very deliberately that it almost sounded like a whisper.

"The sunset and sunrise. I hear it's beautiful." She sighed, "and love. I want to _see _love. I want to see the expression of love. I want to see how people express their love to one another."

Austin took his hand away from hers and scoffed. "Why would you ever want to see love? It's devastating. I must tell you that people cry because of love, not smile. It brings sadness, hardly happiness."

She titled her head to the side and shook her head helplessly at him. "That's a rather cynical comment about love."

"_I'm _cynical about love."

They sat in muteness as the barista took the cold cups of black coffee and replaced them with fresh cups that they hardly touched.

"Why? Isn't love a wonderful thing?" she finally dared herself to ask. He sounded so determined about his statement; she felt all those thoughts about the beauty of love to whisper themselves away.

He felt bad about saying what he had said, after all, it was her dream and he crushed it with his harsh words. "I'm sorry, it's just…I can't see love bringing anything good for now. My parents are divorced, it shows me that love ends, it isn't timeless. It has expiration dates."

Ally took his hand. " But what about those couples that are happily married?"

He shrugged in defeat. " I don't know what magic they use to stay in love." Austin said in a childlike manner.

She grinned and held his arm. She couldn't help notice how leaned he was and Austin was amused.

"You know what they say; when one door closes, another one opens."

/

Not only did he help her cross the street, he pretty much walked her all the way home. Austin came home with a wet self and a bunch of questions from his mother.

"I'm fine, mum." He told her.

He couldn't fully distinguish what Ally had said the other night_: "You know what they say; when one door closes, another one opens." _

What did that mean? He had to google the sentence to get it. One answer was that it meant when you finish with one aspect of your life, another one would take it place, whether if it were good or bad.

Ally might not be able to see the good and bad things in life, but she could feel them. How could someone with the lack of sight believe such beauties of life when he couldn't?

So, for the next few days, all that was there in Austin's mind were Ally's words and…Ally.

* * *

_thanks for reading :) and thank you so much for the lovely reviews (and follows and favourites) they encourage me to keep on writing._

_*also, thanks to the anonymous reviewer who suggest i write with contractions, i took your advice, thank you :) _


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